icam:JAGChem82: You know, one thing that these "flag fetishist" will harp on is this rigamarole about "it's about heritage not hate" and "I'm about respecting my ancestors", etc. But the moment someone flys a flag that offends their sensibilities, such as a gay flag, Mexican flag, et. al., they cry to the media how those people are dissin' America.

I'll give them this though, they were trolling people before there was even a concept of trolling in general. I'm a big proponent of targeted trolling myself. Next February, I should put out a resolution to fly a black nationalist flag to the state capitol in ATL.

I find it sort of funny when people who have no connection to the South masturbate over the Confederate flag and find it weird that people might view it as a sign of racism.

I have a cousin that used to fly a big flag off the back of his truck and he has pulled the whole heritage schtick-- he has spent his whole life in South Texas, near the Texas-Mexico border, not what I'd consider connected much to "The South", and none of the family has connection either.

You know, both my grandfathers and three of my great uncles served in World War II. Only three of them served in the European front.

One of my grandfathers participated in the Italy campaign, was captured, and from there spent just under two years in a POW camp until liberated by the Third Army just before war's end. There, he contracted tuberculosis and pneumonia several times, and had to have half of one lung and a third of the other removed. My other grandfather landed on Utah, was wounded on D-day, and was shipped back to fight from Paris all the way to Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge. The third one...hell if I know, he was my great uncle and of all of them, never talked about his experiences during the war. The other two were a Navy man who fought in the Pacific, and a Marine who was an island hopper. The only thing I was ever able to get out of the latter was that he was at Okinawa, and around him you just did not ever discuss the war.

Only my two grandfathers really ever discussed the war, and between the two they'd seen the worst the Nazis had to offer: the battles themselves, how the Nazis treated prisoners of war and people in occupied areas, how the Nazis treated their own damn people towards the end of the war, concentration camps and what was done in them. That's not something you forget when you're told as a child, with the explicit warning that is what happens when evil men come to power.

This guy's flying the flag of what was an avowed enemy of the US until its collapse at the hands of other states, US included. He hasn't disappeared in the night, taken to a concentration camp and subjected to torturous medical experiments without his consent, tortured just for the hell of it, deprived of every comfort and basic human need, eventually executed in a slow and horrific way, and trophies kept of the parts of his body that weren't incinerated. In fact, he has people defending his right to make such ignorant, hateful, and categorically incorrect statements. So, I have to say...fark him.

that bosnian sniper:My other grandfather landed on Utah, was wounded on D-day, and was shipped back to fight from Paris all the way to Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge.

He didn't capture a Bosnian in the Volksgrenadiers, did he?

My grandmother's cousin's husband was a Bosnian who was a sergeant who trained soldiers with the anti-tank weapon "pupchen" (an innovative top-down attack weapon). He was transferred into a combat unit late in the war and was a recon guy during Bulge. He got captured after Malmedy and the amusing circumstances of it probably saved his life. (He's currently living in Canada.)

Philip Francis Queeg:robohobo: Nope, not at all. If this mook wants to fly a flag(and to be clear, all flag flying is creepy shiat, just like national anthems), whatever, that's his right. Offense takes a lot of energy, and it just ain't worth it. It's not hurting anyone, except possibly the feelings/sensibilities of very touchy people.

Do you have enough energy to be proud of your apathy?

Yeah, people like that are why everyone needs to at least do a year in college and get that shiat out of their system in the freshman dorms, if it's still rattling around in their brains by then. Usually high school seniors already recognize how lame that position is. Occasionally someone manages to squeak through to midlife still thinking that being utterly wool-headed works though. Peter Griffen, Homer Simpson, etc.

Peter von Nostrand:Peter von Nostrand: robohobo: Dude, people get offended at farking EVERYTHING these days. It's our goddamned national past time, now. Americans NEED to feel offense and outrage, it's like drugs, and our population is made of junkies.

I don't think anyone is offended. Pretty sure we're all laughing at how out of touch he is

And apparently I'm wrong

jeez, there are still americans alive who fought the Nazis. and survivors of the concentration camps. how about if it was that Taliban flag they were flying In Qatar. would you be offended ?

skullkrusher:skullkrusher: JohnnyC: knowless: JohnnyC: Considering Obama has done less of the things this asshat claims he's mad about than Bush did... I'm going to go with racism.

If there has been one really good thing about having a President who isn't white, it has been that the racists seem to think it's their time to out themselves to the general population. Makes it much easier when they do that to themselves.

First off, you believe Obama is "black"? Second, you don't think that was an intentional wedge?

How did the south Africans greet Obama?

Did he meet with Mandela?

The fark you going on about? You mad because I think the old bastard in the article is a racist?

why do you think that? Because he has crazy opinions about the current President and the current President is black? You got a pretty low bar set there

As many times as "never forget" has been said about Nazi atrocities, I fear it wasn't enough, and we're entering a time when knuckleheads can get pretty far in life before running into someone who gives them a clue about history. Generation X grew up with grandfathers who lived through it, and got an ear and eyeful of World War II commemorations around the 40th and 50th anniversaries, and with media consumption less fragmented then than now, TV miniseries such as War and Remembrance and movies such as Schindler's List reached a higher percentage of the population. Of course the broadcast TV networks wouldn't even make something like War and Remembrance now. I have no idea what anybody under 25 thinks anymore.

My grandfather served in the Navy in the Pacific. He missed Pearl harbor by a weird twist of fate when a month before a friend was stationed at San Diego and who wanted a sea billet talked my grandfather into trading places on the Tennessee. His friend survived and called him shortly afterwards and said "you knew that attack was gonna happen you son of a biatch!"

Grandpa made it to Pearl directly afterwards anyway. He was immediately transferred to Hawaii to assist with the cleanup. This was the part he didn't talk about until literally a month before he died when he broke down in tears and shared his experience. He was an Electrician's Mate so his job was to be the first into the ships to wade into the hulls of the ships through oil and past bodies to string lights so they could clean them out.

The thing about this nazi flag thing is that you literally couldn't do that in the 50s in America. Some vet would come along and kick the shiat out of you and the cops wouldn't care.

Blathering Idjut:My grandfather served in the Navy in the Pacific. He missed Pearl harbor by a weird twist of fate when a month before a friend was stationed at San Diego and who wanted a sea billet talked my grandfather into trading places on the Tennessee. His friend survived and called him shortly afterwards and said "you knew that attack was gonna happen you son of a biatch!"

Grandpa made it to Pearl directly afterwards anyway. He was immediately transferred to Hawaii to assist with the cleanup. This was the part he didn't talk about until literally a month before he died when he broke down in tears and shared his experience. He was an Electrician's Mate so his job was to be the first into the ships to wade into the hulls of the ships through oil and past bodies to string lights so they could clean them out.

The thing about this nazi flag thing is that you literally couldn't do that in the 50s in America. Some vet would come along and kick the shiat out of you and the cops wouldn't care.

Too true.

Interesting that we have someone arguing that we are all "offended" by this and that being offended is somehow wrong. The guy does have a right to put up whatever crap he wants...and then he has to live with our right to express just how much of a dumbass he is and how offensive he is. If people get offended by plain talk, then that's their problem. At least no one is beating the shiat out of the guy.

Of course, he sounds like a poor sad loon so it's hard to be too worked up about it.

Nem Wan:As many times as "never forget" has been said about Nazi atrocities, I fear it wasn't enough, and we're entering a time when knuckleheads can get pretty far in life before running into someone who gives them a clue about history. Generation X grew up with grandfathers who lived through it, and got an ear and eyeful of World War II commemorations around the 40th and 50th anniversaries, and with media consumption less fragmented then than now, TV miniseries such as War and Remembrance and movies such as Schindler's List reached a higher percentage of the population. Of course the broadcast TV networks wouldn't even make something like War and Remembrance now. I have no idea what anybody under 25 thinks anymore.

But the guy in TFA is 73 and just a asshole.

I have been saying that the new Star Wars series would be great if they dealt with some sort of reivisionism. Basically after the fall of the empire, people start forgetting how bad they were, and looking at the fact that life was better in a lot of ways, better supply routes led to easier access to medicine, food and other space supplies. Eventually some people started trying for a resurgence of the Empire, and it has to be fought against.